


Perfection

by regulatingpressure



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: F/F, FInn is sort of a jerk, Princess Mechanic, Sorry Not Sorry, everyone is gay basically, wedding photographer au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-30
Updated: 2014-12-30
Packaged: 2018-03-04 08:09:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,730
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3028070
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/regulatingpressure/pseuds/regulatingpressure
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Raven Reyes had always strived for perfection</p><p>(or, the one where Raven is getting married and Clarke is her wedding photographer)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Perfection

Raven was the type of girl who strived for perfection. As a kid, she won or got a high rank in any beauty pageant her mom entered her in. When she was 15, she fell in love with her best friend. She ranked top in her class in high school, and in college, beating out all the male engineers that jeered at her freshman year. Right out of college, she got the perfect job at a top private mechanic shop. On the 8th anniversary of their first date, Finn gave the perfect proposal, and Raven smiled because all this went exactly with her plan.

On each of these occasions, Raven called her mother excitedly. She would animatedly explain the accomplishment, but would ultimately get a huff and probably an eye roll in response. “Is that all, Raven? I really need to get back to work.”

“Yeah, that’s it, I guess,” she would just about hang up.

“WAIT,” her mother called every time. Raven always immediately raised the phone up to her ear again, allowing her hope to rise with it. “Raven, can you spot me a couple hundred? “

Raven didn’t know why she always did that, always brought her accomplishments to her mother wanting praise, half knowing her mother wouldn’t care. Even when she was a little pageant girl, running to show her mother the Ultimate Grand Supreme crown, she would always be given a room key and waved off as her mom chatted up some loser in the Holiday Inn bar.

Her mother was, however, usually interested in the cash prizes Raven won.

After calling her mom to tell her about her and Finn’s engagement, she didn’t start to cry like she usually would.

Finn entered the room timidly, wrapping his arms around Raven’s small frame. “Hey, Ray, how was your call to your mom?”

She gave him a glare. “Fine, Finn,” she walked out of his hold, sitting down on one of the barstools in their shared apartment’s kitchen. “But you know what? I won’t let this ruin it for me. We’re getting _married,_ Finn. And I’m gonna plan a damn perfect wedding. In fact, let me call Roma right now. I won’t let my bitch mother ruin my enjoyment of calling my best friend and telling her that I’m getting married.”

Finn smiled. “Good for you, Raven. You know what, why don’t you just go see Roma? I’ll just stay here and maybe invite Graham over to celebrate, as he’ll call it, the end of my freedom.”

“Yeah, whatever,” Raven replied, giving him a smack and a playful glare. She grabbed the car keys and gave Finn a peck on the mouth. “I’ll be back tomorrow morning before work.”

 

Raven pulled into Roma’s apartment’s parking garage and nodded at the attendant, who knew her by now.

“Roma!” She said, bursting into the apartment, waving her left hand around. “Guess what happened to me today?!”

Roma gasped and demanded to see the ring and they jumped around for a while.

“How did he do it?” Roma demanded forcefully. “Tell me everything.”

Raven smiled, this was the response she’d been waiting for. She cheerfully talked Roma through how Finn had taken her out to Seattle’s fanciest seaside restaurant and told her all the reasons he loved her. He pulled out some childhood photos and then, finally, the ring.

If she was honest with herself, the ring wasn’t exactly to her taste.

“I mean,” she said to Roma, twisting the ring around her finger. “It’s not exactly what I wanted. It’s beautiful, don’t get me wrong, but I told him about a year ago that I preferred simple. Maybe a band with inset stones, you know, like not a big stone?” At Roma’s almost angry expression, she quickly backtracked. “I’ll come to love it, though. Finn gave it to me, which makes it perfect.”

Roma stood up and smiled, saying something about celebratory wine. Raven nodded and smiled, still twisting the golden ring with the too big emerald stone.

(She couldn’t possibly _hate_ it. It was perfect. Finn gave it to her. Perfect.)

 

Raven babbled to Lincoln as they worked on an old Mercedes the next day.

“You should call my cousin,” he said gruffly, not looking up from where he was examining the hood. “She is a wedding planner. She is good. You tell her you know Lincoln, she will take you as client.”

“Really,” Raven looked up. “What’s her name?”

“Anya Warsmith. Same last name as me. Her business called Anya’s Weddings.”

“Thanks, Lincoln. I’ll be sure to look into that.”

 

Three days later, Raven found herself walking into a fancy little shop downtown, hand-in-hand with Finn. Inside, a young woman typed on a computer. She looked up as the bell above the door jingled. “Welcome to Anya Weddings, how can I help you?”

“Hi,” Raven said with a smile. “We have an appointment with Anya. It should be under-,”

“Reyes,” the girl interrupted with a smile. “Anya is expecting you. Take a seat and I’ll let her know you’re here.”

Raven smiled and thanked the girl and Finn gave her a nod. They sat down on the lush red couch. “Look at the photos in here,” Raven said excitedly. “I read that all the photos in here are actual clients of Anya’s, and when another wedding planner in Florida took one of the photos off the internet and tried to put it in their shop, she sued them. And won. Isn’t that so badass?”

Finn frowned at her. “No, why couldn’t she have just let the poor person use the picture? Jesus, Raven, I don’t know if I want someone that cruel to plan our wedding.”

“Are you kidding me? Her couples have a one hundred percent satisfaction and success rate! It’s nearly impossible to get Anya! We are not turning her down.”

Finn grumbled a bit and leaned back, avoiding looking at Raven by looking at the various flower arrangements around the salon. Raven twisted her ring around her finger.

The receptionist came up with a tray. Noticing Finn’s apparent interest in the flowers, she waved her hand at one. “They’re all fresh. Anya’s florist, Green Flowers, delivers them daily. He does all her weddings’ flower arrangements. Can I offer you some champagne? One of Anya’s brides had a little emergency, but she assures me she’ll be here soon.”

“Thank you,” Raven accepted the glasses, handing one to Finn. “May I ask what happened? Is the bride okay?”

The receptionist giggled. “Yes, of course, everyone is fine. The bride just had a little spat with her makeup artist.” She shook her head. “Poor girl was overcharged by about $200 for her consult session, and the artist wouldn’t reimburse her. Anya went down there to straighten it out.”

“Oh, I thought Anya only used her own people?”

“She does, this young woman insisted on her own makeup artist. She really should have listened to Anya. Anya only employs the best in the business.”

Raven nodded and was about to ask another question when the phone rang. “Excuse me,” the girl said.

“Of course. Thank you for the champagne…” At Raven’s hesitance, the girl offered her name.

“It’s Tris. I’m Anya’s receptionist and assistant, so you’ll see me whenever you come here or if Anya is unable to come. One of us is always available.”

“Thank you, Tris.”

Tris ran off the answer the phone and Raven sat back, sipping her champagne. “See, Finn? It’s so nice here.”

“Yeah, whatever,” Finn drowned his champagne and sat back, returning his gaze to the flower arrangements littering the room.

A few minutes later, a tall woman entered the shop and spoke quietly with Tris for a moment before turning to Raven and Finn.

“Hello, I’m Anya. Would the two of you please step into my office so we can talk about your wedding?”

Raven nodded and tugged a still reluctant Finn to the office. They sat down in the plush loveseat across from a cushy chair, which Anya sat in. She pulled out a Surface and smiled at Raven and Finn, slightly easing Raven’s overall feeling of intimidation. The woman was definitely a lot like Lincoln.

“Hello, Raven. Lincoln has told me a lot about you-,”

“Did he really?” Raven interrupted in surprise, before blushing slightly. “I-I didn’t mean-,”

Anya laughed quietly. “I assure you, Miss Reyes, I understand. Let me rephrase. Lincoln told me a lot about you for Lincoln. He is a man of few words, but he spoke kindly of you. Tell me about yourselves.”

“Well, I’m Raven and this is my fiancée, Finn. We got engaged about a week ago, and we’ve discussed a late summer wedding.”

“So August then?” Anya asked. “That doesn’t give us much time. Only ten months.” She smiled. “Sounds like a challenge. Tell me more. You look like a lady with a vision, Miss Reyes.”

 

The rest of the appointment was a flurry of color schemes, possible wedding venues, dates, and names of Anya’s specialists.

“I recommend you call with your date within the next couple days. Most couples plan their weddings over a year or two, and I need to call and book my people for you.”

Raven nodded. “I’ll call Tris with the information very soon. Thanks for taking us on, Anya.”

Anya nodded and smiled lightly. “Any friend of Lincoln is a friend of mine. Give me a call if you need anything at all.”

Raven and Finn decided on August 27th. Tris cheerfully congratulated them on picking a date and said she’d book the photographer. “Would you like to meet with the photographer? Anya recommends you do, and for Anya’s clients she does free engagement portraits.”

“That would be great,” Raven replied. “Finn and I both have Thursday off work every week, so any upcoming Thursday will work.”

“Amazing, I’ll get back to you and let Anya know your date. Congratulations on setting a date, Raven! Other brides tell me setting a date is surreal, and that’s when it really hits them that they’re getting married.” But for some reason Raven didn’t feel very happy, even though Tris was right, and the engagement felt all too real.

 

Three Thursdays later, Raven pulled into the parking lot of Griffin Photography and Portraits alone. Getting out of the car, she pulled her jacket a bit tighter.

The store was warm and covered in all kinds of photos. Looking around, Raven saw mostly wedding parties and family portraits, but also some pictures of the Seattle landscape and some pets.

As she looked at the photos, a black and white dog gave a little woof and walked up to her, sniffing her and wagging slightly. “Hey, buddy,” she said smiling and scratching him.

“Oh, sorry,” a woman’s voice said, coming out of a door behind the counter. “He’s friendly, I promise. I’ve had him since he was a puppy.”

“It’s okay,” Raven looked up from the wagging pit bull, only to see one of the prettiest women she’d ever seen. She thought she knew what a blonde bombshell looked like, but she was wrong. “I-I actually wanted to adopt a dog with my fiancée, an American Staffordshire Terrier, but he said they were too violent.” She rolled her eyes, petting the dog’s head. “He doesn’t know what he’s talking about.”

The girl smiled. “So that’s why Grounder likes you so much. He’s usually a little wearier of new people, especially adults.”

Raven chuckled. “I’m glad I passed the test, then.” She stood straight, holding her hand out. “I’m Raven, one of Anya’s clients.”

She shook Raven’s hand, and Raven felt oddly calm. “I’m Clarke. Come, sit down. Can I get you some tea or something?”

“Uh, sure,” Raven replied. “I like mint tea.”

“Perfect,” Clarke said. “That’s my favorite. Will your fiancée want some?”

“No,” Raven said. “Finn doesn’t like the smell of mint. He says it reminds him of how unnaturally stuff like that is produced.”

“It’s organic,” Clarke said.

“It doesn’t matter,” Raven said. “Grocery shopping with him is a nightmare, as you can probably imagine. He makes us grow a lot of our own food.”

Clarke winced, walking over to a small table with an electric teapot on it and turning it on. “In Seattle?”

Raven nodded, grimacing herself. “Yeah, we get a lot of limp lettuce and sour apples.”

Clarke laughed and led Raven to the comfortable couches in the lobby, sitting down and smiling easily at her. “So, tell me about you and Finn. Like, your whole story.” At Raven’s questioning look, she explained. “I like to really know a couple in order to plan the photos. I need to know that for angles, zoom, lighting, blur, contrast, even whether it should be…” she trailed off, blushing adorably. “Sorry, I tend to ramble. Sorry if I bored you, but essentially I want to know your story to help me take good pictures.”

“No, no,” Raven assured Clarke. “I don’t really know anything about photography, but you weren’t boring me.”

(In fact, Raven loved to see Clarke so passionate)(She just thought it would be a little weird to say so on the first meeting)

Clarke looked relived. “Good. Well-,” the tea began the whistle. “Excuse me,” Clarke said.

“Of course, I’ll just step outside and call Finn,” Raven hurriedly stood up and exited the little shop. Finn had been unexpectedly called into work, but assured her he wouldn’t be late to meeting the photographer. He answered on the second to last ring, breathing slightly heavily.

“Sorry, babe, I won’t be able to make it. There’s some scandal at the Treetops factory in Wenatchee and I’m headed down there now to get the story.”

“What? Finn, you promised! I can’t get engagement photos alone! Can’t you just stop by before heading to Wenatchee?”

“I’m really sorry, Raven. You knew my job had unpredictable hours. We’ll do it another time.”

Raven didn’t know that his job as the environmental reporter for a small conspiracy magazine no one read would have unpredictable hours. “Whatever, Finn. Call me later and I’ll yell at you.”

“I lov-,” She hung up, walking into the photography shop cold and pissed off and kind of wanting to cry. Clarke approached her and gave her a white mug with mint tea in it.

“Do you like anything in your tea?” Raven shook her head, trying to get her shit together.

“No,” the word sounded choked anyways, and Clarke frowned, gesturing for Raven to sit down.

“Everything okay, Raven?”

Raven sat, holding her mug tightly. “Finn won’t be coming. I’m so sorry for wasting your time, I’ll just come back another time-,”

Clarke waved her off. “Raven, please. From my experience, the bride usually gives me much more information anyways.” She took a sip of her tea, wincing. “Oh, sorry. I think this is yours. Here, I’ll take that one and start new water-,”

Raven laughed her off, taking the cup Clarke had and switching it with her own. “It’s fine, Clarke. I can handle drinking tea out of a cup with one sip out of it.” (Plus, she sort of liked the lipstick stain on the rim)(Again, not that she would tell Clarke that)

Clarke smiled. (Raven wanted to see her do it again)

 

The next few weeks were a fine balance between working at the shop, meeting with Anya’s people, fighting with and forgiving Finn for his suddenly weird work hours, and becoming really close with Clarke.

(Really, that girl was fucking awesome)

“You’ll love Bellamy,” Clarke assured Raven, who sat in the office of Griffin Photography. “He’s Anya’s cake guy, and my best friend. We’re both from Virginia, but moved to Seattle because we were too liberal for Virginia. His cakes are to _die_ for. The red velvet is my favorite.”

Raven rubbed Reaper, Clarke’s second, more timid Pit Bull’s back with her feet and Grounder with her hand. “More of a chocolate girl myself.”

Clarke giggled, pouring mint tea into two cups, adding sugar to hers. “Then you’ll like Jasper and Monty. Monty is a florist and Jasper is a caterer, and Bellamy brings them chocolate cake every time he sees them or else they whine about chocolate cake the whole time. It’s hilarious.”

Raven laughed and accepted the tea Clarke held out to her. “All you people that work on Anya’s weddings are close, huh?”

“Oh, yes. It’s a group effort. Monty sends Bellamy the flowers so that he can make sugar versions and add them to the cake and Jasper needs to know what type of cake there is so that he can arrange the drinks around the cake and food. Miller, the DJ or head guitarist of a wedding band, needs to know all kinds of stuff for lighting set up and I need to know lighting set up and venue for camera lenses. I think Anya’s weddings are perfect because all of the elements that make up a wedding are interconnected.”

“Cool,” Raven said. And she meant it. “And I’m beta testing Anya’s new idea for photography?”

“Yep,” Clarke said proudly. “Anya appreciates the perfect wedding gift, and this one is it. Basically, I photograph everything you and Finn do to plan the wedding and then I put it into a scrapbook. Finn’s meeting us at the bakery, right?”

Raven nodded. “He promised he wouldn’t be late.”

“Good, I haven’t even met him yet.” Raven had tried to set up appointments for engagement portraits four times, and each time, Finn had been unable to get there. It was, however, what brought Raven and Clarke so close. “By the way, my new photographer, Octavia, will be joining us. She just moved here. She’s Bellamy’s sister, and a phenomenal photographer.” Clarke brushed a bit of dog hair from her shoulder. “What can I say, though, she learned from the best.”

Raven laughed. “Okay,” She checked the clock in the office and drowned the rest of her tea. “We should go now. Is Octavia finished with her session?”

“Yeah, she’s just putting away a set in photo room B right now. I’ll go fetch her.”

As Clarke left, Raven got up and stretched. She walked over to get her umbrella from Clarke’s cluttered but still somehow organized desk. On the desk was a framed photo of Clarke with her arms wrapped around a handsome man at the top of the space needle. Raven picked it up and studied it.

It was an adorable photo, really. Clarke’s hair was perfectly windswept and her smile was happy and affectionate. The man was handsome, with freckles and curly hair and an easy smile. It was a perfect picture, but for some reason Raven didn’t like it.

“Hi,” a pretty, dark haired girl came into the room and headed over to the other desk, putting on a purple raincoat. “I’m Octavia.”

“Raven,” Raven replied with a smile. She turned the photo so Octavia could see. “Did you take this picture?”

Octavia nodded. “Yeah, we all went to the space needle together when I moved here to be with my brother. Clarke really likes it.”

“Oh,” Raven paused, biting her lip. “Is that guy Clarke’s boyfriend?”

Octavia paused for a moment before starting to laugh. “N-No,” she said when she calmed down. “That’s my brother. I mean, they dated at one point, but soon after that they realized they were basically just each other’s beards.”

“Beards like…”

“Beards like Clarke and my brother are both gay.”

Clarke poked her head into the office. “Did you not know I’m gay, Raven? Wow, your gaydar must suck. I’m not exactly subtle here.”

Octavia nodded. “Seriously.”

 

Octavia drove them to Blake’s Cakes while telling a funny story about trying to get a good photo of five cats in her last photo session. When they arrived, Finn was pacing around in front of the store with his phone to his ear. Bellamy stood lazily in the doorway of the shop, with a slightly annoyed expression on his face.

“RAVEN!” Finn shouted when he saw her. “You told me 2:15, not 2:45! I can only stay for another fifteen minutes. And have you seen the ingredients in there?”

“All organic,” Bellamy said easily, with an almost indistinguishable hint of annoyance. “Anything that can be bought locally was bought locally.”

Finn scoffed. “Whatever, Mr. Blake. Can we just taste some cake, Raven?”

Raven felt a fight coming on, but Clarke reached over and squeezed her hand and Raven felt calmer. “Fine, Finn. Let’s go taste some cakes.”

They walked in hand and hand and Raven heard the click of Clarke’s camera. Finn’s hand was warmer and more calloused than Clarke’s cool, soft hand. She looked down and missed Clarke’s painted fingers, always a different shade. Today, they were fuchsia. Finn’s nails were bitten bloody. And had his hands always been this sweaty?

And as Raven expected, Finn refused to try any cake and left after eight and a half minutes to go to work. Raven sighed and looked at the cake until she felt someone sit next to her and grab her hand.

“Hey, Rae,” Clarke said, forcing Raven to look up at her. “No one will make you taste cake alone. Octavia needs photography practice anyways. She’s a rookie.”

“Hey!” Octavia called indignantly.

Raven smiled. The flash of Octavia’s camera went off.

 

Over the next 6 months, Raven became much closer with all of the people working on her wedding. She found when she was with her and Finn’s friends, she wished she could call Clarke or drink with Monty and Jasper or listen to Bellamy tell stories about Octavia and Clarke from Virginia. Hell, sometimes she wished she was fixing light and sound systems with Wick. And Wick annoyed her to no end.

(But at least he didn’t think it was strange she was a female mechanic)

Even weirder than that, Raven began to enjoy Finn much less than she did before. Clarke, however…well, she didn’t really know how to feel about Clarke anymore. Sure, she had experienced little girl crushes in the past, but never to this degree. She felt butterflies at Clarke’s many little nicknames, and mostly felt annoyed when Finn used any (even if he used them far before Clarke ever had)

(Also, when Finn wrote her notes when he left before she woke up he addressed them ‘Ray’ but Clarke addressed any notes to her ‘Rae’. Was it just her or was Rae a lot better than Ray?)

(And when would Finn stop calling her babe? And would Clarke please do it 200% more often?)

It was only two more months until the wedding when Raven went in for her second to last dress fitting. Bellamy and Clarke were supposed to go with her, but Clarke had to cancel last minute due to some family problems. When she asked Bellamy, he just shook his head and said Clarke’s mother didn’t approve of her ‘choices’. With air quotes around the word “choices”. Octavia tagged along instead, camera in tow.

“So is your dress more white or ivory?” Bellamy asked. “Because the biggest disaster I can think of is a bride wearing a white dress and having an ivory cake.”

Octavia nodded seriously, apparently very solemn about this issue. Raven resisted the urge to giggle at them.

They entered the boutique and the receptionist cheerfully led them through to the fitting room. “Your dress is hanging right there. If your guests want to wait out here I’ll help you get into it.”

The curtain was closed and Raven stepped into her dress. The attendant laced it up too tight then stepped back and smiled. Raven looked in the mirror and almost (almost?) hated her dress. The white washed her out and the bottom swallowed her up. Finn had insisted he come with her and he and Roma had raved over this dress. Clarke (who had been photographing) offered no opinion. The saleslady opened the curtain and Raven turned so Octavia and Bellamy could see.

Bellamy winced and then immediately covered it up. “White,” he mumbled, writing it down in a notebook. Octavia snapped a picture and then lowered the camera.

“Do you want to smile, Raven? Clarke will kill me if I don’t get at least one picture of you looking happy.”

And at Clarke’s name, Raven smiled, thinking about the small blonde girl trying on veils with her. Octavia took a picture.

“Finn will think you look beautiful,” Bellamy said with a hint of something Raven couldn’t identify.

She wasn’t smiling as they left the store.

 

Finally, it was August 25th. Finn was “Working more to make up for the honeymoon”, so Raven went to get all the wedding stuff without him. Anya sat in the passenger seat.

“Are you excited to get married?” She asked. Raven resisted the urge to look back at the pink flowers and too-poufy white dress and framed engagement pictures of her and Finn in the backseat. She must’ve hesitated a moment too long, because Anya didn’t let her answer. “You see, Raven, I don’t take every couple that comes to me because I prefer functional couples. Marriage is a fine mix of winning and losing and compromises that you can both be happy with, and,” Anya turned and grabbed one of the pictures, showing it to Raven. Raven and Finn had a huge fight right in front of Clarke about the background of the pictures. She wanted something romantic. Finn wanted plain gray. The pictures had a gray background. “You seem to be losing a lot. Too much. Are you happy, Raven?”

Raven felt a lump in her throat. “I loved him. For so long, I loved him. But now…”

“You have two options.” Anya told her. “You can go through with this wedding and maybe, _maybe,_ you and Finn will make it work. Or, you can do what your gut is telling you to do.”

“My gut isn’t being very helpful.” Raven insisted.

Anya gave her a look. “Please, Raven Reyes, don’t lie to yourself. I believe you have a little blonde crush, and if you leave my photographer heartbroken, I will not be happy. Do you know how hard it is to find quality photographers with some personality? You’d be surprised how dull photographers can be. Plus, her assistant just eloped with my cousin and they’re in the Caribbean for their honeymoon for a couple more weeks.”

Raven nodded with a lump in her throat. She wished, like Octavia, she knew exactly what she wanted and just went for it. They drove in silence until Raven dropped Anya off at her shop. Anya opened her door and rummaged through her bag. She pulled out an envelope and handed it to Raven.

“Don’t fuck this up,” she told the girl. Anya got out of the car, slammed the door, and walked into her shop. Raven looked at the envelope in her hands and opened it with shaking hands.

 

She gave the ring back to Finn that night. There was a lot of yelling and she left him crying. She told him she would be by to get her stuff the next day. He didn’t say anything as she left, only watched her walk down the hall and slammed the door after her.

 

But, to be fair, when she went to see Roma the garage attendant asked about Roma’s boyfriend. Long brown hair, bitten-down nails, and usually organic vegetables in tow.

Raven thought Finn was working a suspicious amount. And Roma was sort of avoiding her.

She didn’t go up to see Roma. She could have sworn she saw Finn’s car coming in on her way out.

 

She moved out of their apartment while he was at work. Clarke offered to let her sleep on her couch. They became much closer and spent almost all their time together. Raven would come hang out in the office of Griffin Photography and Portraits whenever she could. Hell, Clarke would sometimes come to the mechanic shop, despite Raven telling her consistently it was dangerous.

Slowly, Clarke began to hold Raven’s hand for longer. Raven began to give her lingering kisses on the cheek. What used to be sharing a blanket during a movie turned into full blown snuggling. Reaper and Grounder went from “Clarke’s babies” to “our babies”.

After their first real kiss (fueled by Monty’s moonshine and Miller’s artfully placed insert of the song Same Love at Jasper’s birthday party) everything moved faster. Raven stopped sleeping on the couch. Bellamy, Octavia, and Lincoln helped move all of Raven’s boxes from the storage unit to her and Clarke’s apartment. Raven found that she was, for the first time in years, truly happy.

 

She realized her life was actually perfect on a regular Tuesday morning. She woke up to Clarke snuggled against her and their dogs sleeping at the edge of the bed.

As usual, Reaper got up and walked after her while Clarke and Grounder slept in. Raven turned on the coffee machine and smiled at the lipstick stains on literally every mug in their kitchen. “Clarke,” she mumbled affectionately, picking one up anyways.

She let Reaper outside, sipping her coffee and standing on their small patio. She heard Grounder’s nails clicking on their wooden floors a moment before she felt a pair of arms wrap around her from behind and a kiss to her shoulder. “Morning, babe,” Clarke said sleepily.

Raven turned and kissed Clarke’s nose. “Good morning, darling. You look beautiful as always.”

Clarke laughed, mumbled something about brownnosing and getting lucky, and went inside. Raven followed, grinning. She locked the dogs outside and closed the curtains.

It only struck Raven later that the date was August 27th, and it would have been her and Finn’s first anniversary. She felt no regret.

 

Five months later, Raven and Clarke smiled as Roma walked down the aisle in a blindingly white dress toward a smiling Finn Collins. Raven had been confused when Clarke silently handed her the Save the Date card three months before, but on the back Finn had included a note saying he did love her, but he hadn’t been in love with her. But, he said, you were still my family. And Roma was your best friend, and we want you there.

Plus, Finn’s face when he saw her kissing a slightly tipsy Clarke later had been hilarious. She wished someone could have gotten a picture of it.

“Hey, Raven,” Clarke whispered later, as they slow danced, “I wanna get married someday. Also, is it just me or is Roma’s dress blinding?”

Raven smiled and nodded and thought about the ring hidden in the toolbox (the one thing Clarke wouldn’t touch) at home.

 

Also in the toolbox was the envelope Anya had given her. Inside it were the pictures Octavia had taken of her and Clarke throughout the process of planning her wedding.

There was Clarke, pouting as Raven laughed at the cake smeared on her.

Clarke and Raven smiling with their arms wrapped around each other as Octavia took test shots for lighting purposes.

Raven putting a veil on Clarke while wedding dress shopping with Finn and Roma. (Finn and Roma didn’t look nearly as happy as Clarke and Raven)

Clarke kissing Raven’s cheek under the alter of Raven’s favorite venue (Finn rejected it, saying that there were probably pesticides in the garden)(Raven was about to cry until Clarke hugged her and told her not to let Finn be the pesticide in her garden)

Clarke and Raven tasting possible dinners at Jasper’s restaurant, with Jasper photobombing in the back.

Clarke helping Raven pick out flowers (Clarke and Raven were in agreement about deep red roses until Finn said the little pink tulips would be better)(Raven hated pink tulips)(Clarke and Monty agreed)

Clarke on her knees in front of Raven, offering a plastic ring she bought for 25 cents when Raven insisted she needed pesticide-infused apples for once in her life. At the time, Raven didn’t know Octavia was taking a picture, but Raven thinks she probably looked happier to be receiving that little plastic ring than she was to be getting Finn’s (and the little plastic ring is also in the toolbox. Raven wouldn’t give that away for anything)

And, lastly, a photo of Raven, Clarke, Bellamy, Octavia, Jasper, Monty, Wick, and Miller at the bachelorette party they threw for her. Clarke was ‘testing out the timer’, but later she told Raven she felt like everyone just had to be in the picture.

(Somewhere, Raven supposed, Anya had another envelope filled with pictures of her fake smiling with Finn and looking sadly at a too white wedding dress and a too flashy ring. She couldn’t be more thrilled with the envelope she chose)

(She never called her mom to tell her about Clarke. Clarke was something her mom will never have a chance to ruin)

(Though, to be fair, Finn ruined himself)

 

They had a winter wedding. Raven wore an off white jumpsuit and Clarke an ivory dress. Octavia clicked photos and cried. Anya nodded at Raven’s wide smile and Raven mouthed ‘thank you’.

Bellamy walked Clarke down the aisle, pretend glaring at Raven, but Raven could barely see him. She resisted the urge to leave the alter and run to Clarke. Wick, as if sensing her urge, squeezed her hand.

(She became best friends with him. Whatever. Smug goddamn bastard. She hates him, really)(He’s her best man)

(Was Bellamy checking him out? Was he checking out Bellamy? Were Miller and Monty already hooking up? She and Jasper had bets going on every single one)

(Clarke scolded her for betting on their friends, but later won all the bets)

Bellamy kissed Clarke on the cheek and gave Raven a last glare. Raven barely noticed. She was too busy admiring her wife-to-be.

By the time she kissed Clarke, everyone in the building was crying. Raven was too in love to cry.

(And Lexa, her makeup artist, threatened her life, but that’s not relevant.)

 

And at the reception, she told Clarke she looks perfect, and for the first time she knew the meaning of the word.

She twisted her gold band with inset stones around her finger and smiled. (At least someone had listened when she described her ideal ring)


End file.
